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(RED) ambassador Scarlett Johansson travels to Rwanda

Since its launch in 2006, the (RED) initiative has raised more than $120 million, the results of which are already clear on the ground in sub-Saharan Africa, with prevention programs, food, education, and the distribution of antiretroviral drugs. Still, every day more than 1,000 children are infected with HIV, and an estimated 12.1 million have been orphaned by it. And universal taboos against testing remain: "When I admitted that I'd taken two HIV tests, everyone was completely horrified, the implication being that I was leading this wild lifestyle," says Scarlett Johansson, whose decision to join Bono in the (RED) initiative was a no-brainer. "I was only being responsible." The genius of (RED) is that it empowers consumers with this sense of living responsibly and healthily and passing it on: When you purchase (PRODUCT) RED items—from partners including Apple, Armani, Converse, Dell, Gap, Hallmark, Starbucks, and Microsoft—in stores and via Joinred.com, up to 50 percent of profits go directly to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. Forty cents a day translates to the two antiretroviral pills needed to survive. "If that can be achieved by buying a couple of pairs of Converse," Johansson says, "it's worth a shot, don't you think?"